FAFSA Verifications Up

Did you know that up to 30% of FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) submissions are subject to verification? This means  you may need to complete a special worksheet and submit copies of your tax forms. However, since the application process itself is often seen as lengthy, convoluted and flawed, the last thing families want is to become more entrenched in this messy process. A recent Institute for College Access and Success report points to the FAFSA verification process as a problem, placing a burden on students and colleges. The liklihood of being selected for verification goes up if you have inconsistencies, estimations, or omissions.

The good news is that one of the goals of Congress and our current administration is to try to streamline simplify the FAFSA submission procedures, including pre-populating data directly from the IRS.  The first step, taken this past January, was to eliminate 26 questions from the form and restructure the website. But, short term this may mean more families will be selected for verification as kinks are being worked out in the system.

After the U.S. Department of Education receives FAFSAs, individual student applications are flagged for verification. Verifications must be completed by colleges and are often costly to the institutions. This procedure is in place to make sure information in the application is correct and qualified students are receiving aid. This year we have noticed more families that qualify for Pell Grants and other State/Federal/and Institutional Grants being called for verification. Of the applicants tracked inside the ICAS study, Pell Grant-eligible students chosen for verification were 7 percent less likely to receive grants than students whose applications weren’t verified.

Some colleges, such as UC Berkeley, enroll more of grant-eligible students as a result of participation in the federal Quality Assurance Program. In order to participate in this program, UC Berkeley has to demonstrate to the U.S. Department of Education that their campus can do quality assurance reviews on a smaller percentage of students and still ensure accuracy. This program results in a reduced load for students and increases the responsibilities of the Financial Aid Office. Through the 2009-10 school year, nearly 70 percent of UC Berkeley undergraduates (about 18,000 students) received financial aid. Of those students, only 10 percent were verified.

Those of us here at College Planning Coach can help you with the verification process. If your taxes are complicated, we will work with your accountant and the financial aid counselor to allow a smooth translation of the information. For one client, this meant multiple conversations with the accountant, then simplifying everything so the college verifier’s questions could be answered.

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